Netgalley Top Reviewer

01 August 2016

"Colleen Hoover reminds readers that love is a fragile thing, built from courage, hope, and tears. Every person with a heartbeat should read this book."– Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, This Girl, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Ugly Love, Maybe Not, and Confess. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. Please visit ColleenHoover.com.

The first thing Goodreads or Amazon asks me is "what did you think?". The first thing that pops in my head is the word grueling. This book is emotionally debilitating. I can honestly say it's hard to write this review because I can't see through the tears streaming down my face. I just can't stop them from falling.

As much as that makes it sound like this is such a heartbreaking and sad story, it's so much more. It's unbelievably hard to read, but it is also strangely beautiful too. The relationship or Ryle and Lily is beautiful in the beginning. Then you will start to question it'd beauty. You start to question your reasoning, your validations, your idea of what should or shouldn't happy, or whys. I know I did. but this is also why this book may hit home for a lot of readers. I know it did for me. Right straight to the heart. And as their relationship progressed, the pain progressed, I shook. i vibrated with agony. With grief. With hatred. Hatred for a book that I was just falling in love with. I can't love this. but I can because I lived this.

You know how you read a book and it just cuts you to your soul? You know that that book will forever stay with you? You know that in 10 years you'll still be able to remember the emotion it evoked in you? That's this book. You don't just read Ryle and Lilys story, you live it with them. I'm not sure if that's a testament to Colleen's writing or the storyline. Honestly I think it's both.

There's so much truth behind this story. Behind the victim mentality. Society's mentality. It was strange to see the remorse in Ryle and for it to feel so real.

At this point , I feel like I'm rambling and I probably. Believe it or not, I'm actually still crying .. and also kind of shaking with anxiety. These questions Lily asked Ryle, I had to ask myself. Those answers were ones I had to give myself. Lily may get her happily ever after, I'm still working on mine. But at least were both safer, happier, healthier and showing our daughters what to expect from a man, right? I mean I know it's not real life, but it's not wrong to believe that could happen for me too, right? I want to find my Atlas. I will give Colleen this. After I read her books, most times, I miss love.

As you can see this book makes you really dig deep emotionally. It'll hit you right in the feels and won't let go. Be prepared. Have tissues handy. You'll probably even need a really good damned hug by the end.

I wish I could say 'oh yeah, hey I gave that 5 stars', but I don't feel like that's enough. 5++++ stars

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